Judgment part 5
I guess it comes down to the difference between passing judgment and executing judgment. Judging by appearance, and judging righteous judgment. Walking by sight, and walking by faith. Because--I'll say it one more time loud and proud--we judge all day every day. We judge everything. And sometimes, if we really put our time and attention into it, we'll actually get the whole story (or most of the story, anyway) before we judge it. But most of the times we just shoot from the hip. We make snap judgments and go from there. And then, at the same time, we (mis)qoute the Bible and talk about how we're not supposed to judge. When, in fact, the Bible simply tells us HOW to judge. Don't condemn, so you won't be condemned. And, let's be real people, you can be condemned whether you condemn others or not. But the chances are better, if you live your life from a place of love, that you will experience love. You experience what you give away. Because that's HOW you experience the gift you've been given. You share it, and in that way you get to experience it. Again, it CAN happen that people will be mean to you no matter what. But its hard to be mean to someone when you know they love you. When you know they'd do anything for you--lay down their life for you. That kind of agape God love melts even the hardest heart. And that, by the way, is how we execute the judgment that was passed down from Father to Son. It wasn't a death sentence. It was a life sentence. An abudant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life sentence! Sentenced to come out of the darkness and into the light. Sentenced to know God as He is--loving heavenly Father--and to know ourselves as we truly are--His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And how do you execute an everlasting life sentence? By living! And how do you live? Truly live, not just go through the motions? By loving. Because living and loving aren't just connected. They are the same thing. To live is to love and to love is to live. So instead of bringing negativity (death) into a situation by judging wrongly--and, look, I get it. You can't give what you don't have. You can only give what you do have. When you're unhappy, you see, and judge, everything through that unhappiness. But instead of bringing negativity (death) into a situation by judging wrongly... you can bring positivity (life) into every situation by judging righteous judgment. By seeing things the way God sees them. And when God looks at us He sees Jesus. When God looks at Jesus He sees us. That's how He judged all of humanity--He wrapped us up in His Son and then judged HIM. The life that God gave to Jesus... He gave to us. Jesus didn't just give His life FOR us, He gave His life TO us. So that we could have it. So that we could experience it as He lives His own life in us, and through us, and as us. So that we could stop making these snap judgments, and instead just be still and know that He is God. Be still and know that God is love. Let love guide the way. That's what its all about, folks. Its all about love. The love inside us coming out of us. Coming out THROUGH us. So that we can love God by loving each other with the love that God loves us with! There's nothing more righteous than that. No better, or more true, judgment than that!